Students Knowing, Loving, & Following Jesus
June 14, 2024
Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ,
I was reading over my newsletter from last month entitled “Is this Place Cursed?” I hope I did not come across too pessimistically because this place is definitely NOT cursed. Yes, I have come to the conclusion that it is a much more dangerous place to live than what I am used to in the United States. There are more natural disasters, the roads are much more dangerous, we face drought and floods, and even the smallest insects seem to be much more deadly. But God loves this place and God loves the people and we want to see them all knowing, loving, and following Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And, praise be to God, many of them ARE knowing, loving, and following Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And, praise be to God, some of them I get to work with and teach on a daily basis and get to see their growth and progress in the Kingdom of Christ.
Case in point: I am currently teaching our first-year students in a class called Basic Theology (Part 2). These are mostly young and inexperienced students desiring to enter the ministry and serve the Lord in the expansion of His kingdom (make sure to read “inexperienced” and not “stupid” because they are all, in fact, very bright and intelligent). We were talking about Salvation (Soteriology), and I wanted them to be aware that historically and also in the modern Christian world there are often vast differences in the way Christians have taught about Salvation – from Calvinism to Arminianism, from God choosing to man choosing, from sovereignty to free will, from determinism to Open Theism. My goal was to make sure they understood some of these differences, to look at the Scriptures to try and determine the answers, and to critically think about what God has revealed to us in His Word. The debates in this arena of theology have been hot for centuries and I wished them to be aware of the concepts, the terminology, and the approaches. It was a difficult conversation for many of them as they were not all aware of the differences or the terminology. Some of them struggled because they had never heard there was “another viewpoint” than the one they had always been taught and they were seeing things in the Scriptures that they were having to wrestle with. I wasn’t purposefully trying to confuse anyone, but it is good for future pastors and church leaders to be familiar with these concepts, and to be able to critically think about the Scripture’s teaching so that they are not swayed by every “wind of doctrine” that comes along. After long discussions I wanted to bring them back around to the Biblical teaching that salvation is by grace alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide), in Christ alone (solus Christus), to the glory of God alone (soli Deo gloria). One of my students, named Reuben, gave an illustration that showed confusion in some areas but great understanding in the important areas. He said: “Mwalimu (teacher), when the thief on the cross next to Jesus died and then appeared before the gates of heaven, they probably asked him, ‘Are you a Calvinist or an Arminian? How did you get here?’ The thief probably looked around and said, ‘I don’t know who Calvin is, and I don’t know anything about Arminianism, but I asked that guy on the middle cross to remember me and he told me that I would be with him in paradise. I’m with that guy on the middle cross.’” OK, there may not be perfect theology in Reuben’s illustration, but I agree with Reuben, I’m with that guy on the middle cross. Lord, bless these beloved students, followers of Jesus, and future church leaders and pastors. Help them above all things to cling to the man on the middle cross and to lead all the Kenyan people to cling to that man on the middle cross.
Another case in point: I also serve as the finance manager of the college. In that role I deal daily with the struggles and challenges of students to find the necessary money to pay their school fees. Paying school fees is probably the biggest challenge my beloved students face. We have policies in place at the school, but I have to be as gracious and merciful as I can be to my financially struggling students. I would rather be gracious and give them extensions than to lose a future church leader because he cannot pay his school fees and complete his Biblical education. I was working with one particular student over the span of a couple of weeks, her name is Faith, that was facing great challenges in paying her fees. In the end, I helped her complete her fees by paying the balance of 4000 shillings. This is only $31, but she was overjoyed. Like as if I was a king of old and in her tears of joy, she prayed that the Lord would bless me with long life, with peace and happiness, and with many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Lord, in return, would you bless Faith with the necessary funds for her school fees and may she all of her life direct and bring her Kenyan people to King Jesus.
Blessings to all,
Roger, Julie, & Chloe
CONTACT INFO
Roger & Julie Tate
Moffat Bible College
P.O. Box 70
Kijabe, Kenya 00220
rojuta@gmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
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An Example of Faith & God’s Faithfulness in Trying Times
December 2, 2020
Dear Friends,
You may be experiencing similar circumstances in your area, but I did want to inform you of what is happening here in southern Brazil. A new wave of COVID cases has arrived and several of our members have been infected. Thanks to the Lord, no one has died because of it and most have recovered quite rapidly. Charlene and I have been blessed by not getting it, so far, and we pray that it will stay that way.
Our youth minister went through some tough experiences recently that helped us see that we are truly in a spiritual battle in this world as we seek to serve the Lord in a fallen society. Cledson and his wife, Fabiane, are very dedicated to teaching the youth God’s word and demonstrating its principles in their daily lives. They go the extra mile in showing love and faithfulness to Lord and to the youth under their leadership. There is a young man who had struggles in his home life and they took him into their own home to mentor him, even though he often pushes the limits of their patience. In one three-week time frame, he caused several accidental damages, though his carelessness was the main factor. They already live on a very tight budget and these damages were sorely stretching them. Last week, Cledson and Fabiane were pushed near to the end of their faith. Cledson makes his living as an Uber driver and this young man, without Cledson’s permission, took his car keys, started the engine and accidently popped the transmission into reverse while the car was parked next to the church’s brick wall. The car rammed backward, crushing the rear of the car and crashing through the wall. All together, the cost was more than 3 months of Cledson’s earnings, plus he would have to put his car in the shop for 3 weeks without further income from Uber services. He and his wife broke down crying. They know that “all things work together for the good of them who love the Lord…”, but on the emotional level they were nearly spent. They dried their tears and went before the youth to teach them that God is still in control and that they are trusting in Him.
They had no idea how they were going to pay for their daily needs, much less the repairs to the car and the church property. But the Lord amazingly showed His gracious mercy and love. The church members, though none are wealthy, pitched in together to cover their expenses for the month and the Lord answered a several months’ old prayer request of Cledson and his wife by having a company call him to work where he won’t even need his car. In the midst of their trial, the Lord showed Himself strong and attentive to their needs. They were super encouraged by the apparent turn in events and were strengthened in their faith. Also, the youth under their leadership learned a tremendous lesson on how to live out their faith in a very real and practical way through the example of their leaders. I am very grateful to God for the strong leaders that He has placed over our youth and I trust that we will have a new generation of faithful servants as a result of their teaching and example.
Another couple of amazing volunteers are Emmanuel and Maria. They are both retired from their secular jobs. As they contemplated retirement and what they believed the Lord wanted them to do with their lives, they felt led to be a part of our gospel outreach team. Emmanuel and Maria are just the kind of people that I want to always be and hope to teach and inspire the people under my leadership to be – selfless! As I write, they are together with our outreach team on a trip to a town in the interior of our state where they will share the love of Christ in public squares and parks. They’ll be sleeping on very thin pads and traveling in a crowded van, but they do this joyfully because of their love for the Lord. I am so thankful for them!
I mentioned in my last correspondence that I got an invitation to preach the gospel in English in a neighboring state. Well, that opportunity led to a re-invitation. Charlene and will be returning there in a couple of weeks and we pray that the Lord will use us to get the gospel out to the listeners present and online and that we will be an encouragement to the team who invited us.
Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support so that we may continue to be useful in the Lord’s service.
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online
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Missionary Update: Paul & Wanda Hatcher in Brazil [December 2014]
Paul and Wanda Hatcher have been serving the Lord together in Brazil since 1974. Paul pastors Tabernacle Baptist Church in Manaus, Brazil. Their main ministry is church planting.
December 03, 2014
Dear Friends,
Blessed be the one and only true God and father, our Lord Jesus Christ. The Scripture says, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” It is reassuring to know our Heavenly father is aware of our every need and has made provision on our behalf. The Word is forever reminding us that: Yes, we can trust God, for He is looking out for us.
The beginning of the month was focused on the Missions Conference in Dearborn Heights – hosted by the New Hope Baptist Church and Pastor Terry Adkins. We — my parents, mother-in-law, Wanda and I — left Florida for Michigan looking forward to a great conference. We divided the trip in small increments so as not to wear everyone out. We stopped to visit our great friends in Georgia, Curtis and Katie Samples; and, as usual, had a wonderful visit. We then went to Mayfield in western Kentucky and visited with my wife’s family and attended Wednesday evening service at Trace Creek Baptist Church, where my mom-in-law is a member. From there we took a longer two-day break in Lexington.
Sunday we were blessed to be at Emmanuel Baptist Church with Pastor Darrel Messer. Dad spoke in the Sunday School hour and I spoke in the morning worship. We are so blessed to be with Pastor Messer and his wife and are so grateful for their kindness and supportiveness. On Sunday evening we visited Grace Baptist Church with Pastor Mark Pyles. We had a great opportunity to share what God is doing in Brazil. We saw pastor emeritus, Paul Kirkman, a friend of many years, who also served faithfully as director of Baptist Faith Missions.
The Missions Conference was blessed. All the messages in song and the preaching were uplifting and an encouragement to take the gospel across our street and around the world. The beautiful and wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord – God in the flesh – died, was buried and on the third day arose from the dead, and is life eternal to all who believe. This Salvation is graciously given by the loving God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be the Lord throughout all eternity.
We pray for you that your remembrance and knowledge of our Lord, the only true God, may abundantly increase in wisdom and discernment, that your trust and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ may be steadfast always, and that the love of his Holy Spirit may fill and overflow in your every word and action, with thanksgiving to God though Jesus Christ our only Lord and Life.
Love,
Paul and Wanda
Paul and Wanda Hatcher
rphatcher[at]gmail.com
15905 Mercott Court
Clermont, FL 34714
(239)227-6551
Click here to give.
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